Systems and methods for providing advertisements to point of presence devices including mapping different types of advertisement messages of respective content providers

Abstract

A content distribution method including receiving in-band signals from respective content providers, where the in-band signals include video content. The method further includes: receiving at a placement opportunities information module first messages associated respectively with the content providers, where the first messages are advertisement messages and/or program messages and have respective formats; and mapping the first messages to second messages, where the second messages have a same format, and where the same format is different than the respective formats and is standardized for point of presence devices. The method further includes: combining the second messages with the video content to generate combined signals; forwarding the combined signals to an insertion module of a headend; generating output signals at the insertion module based on the combined signals; and for each of the output signals, transmitting a non-streaming signal or a streaming signal from the headend to the point of presence devices.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A content distribution method comprising:
 receiving a plurality of in-band signals from respective content providers at a head end, wherein the plurality of in-band signals include video content; 
 receiving at a placement opportunities information module of the head end a plurality of first messages associated respectively with the content providers, wherein the plurality of first messages are advertisement messages or program messages and have a plurality of respective formats, each of the advertisement messages or program messages having a first splice time parameter; 
 mapping, at the head end, the plurality of first messages to a plurality of second messages by changing the first splice time parameter to a second splice time parameter, wherein the plurality of second messages have a same format, and wherein the same format is different than the plurality of respective formats of the first messages and is standardized for a plurality of point of presence devices, said plurality of first messages and said plurality of second messages each comprising a playout time; 
 combining the second messages with the video content to generate combined signals at a combiner module of the headend; 
 forwarding the combined signals to one or more insertion modules of a headend; 
 determining, at the one or more insertion modules of the headend, when the second messages are to be played out based on the playout time; 
 generating output signals at the one or more insertion modules based on the second time parameter and the playout time of the combined signals; and 
 for each of the output signals, transmitting a non-streaming signal or a streaming signal from the headend to the plurality of point of presence devices. 
 
     
     
       2. The content distribution method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first messages are received from the content provider at a divider and separated from the video content at the divider. 
     
     
       3. The content distribution method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first messages satisfy a society of cable telecommunications engineers (SCTE)-35 message standard. 
     
     
       4. The content distribution method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of second messages satisfy a society of cable telecommunications engineers (SCTE)-35 message standard. 
     
     
       5. The content distribution method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first messages are received at the headend while the plurality of in-band signals are received at the headend. 
     
     
       6. The content distribution method of  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of first messages are received on a same channel at the headend as the plurality of in-band signals. 
     
     
       7. The content distribution method of  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of first messages are received at the headend as out-of-band signals from the content provider. 
     
     
       8. The content distribution method of  claim 7 , wherein:
 the plurality of in-band signals are received via a satellite; and 
 the out-of-band signals are received at the placement opportunities information module via a terrestrial network. 
 
     
     
       9. The content distribution method of  claim 1 , wherein first ones of the point of presence devices are configured for non-streaming video and second ones of the point of presence devices are configured to stream video. 
     
     
       10. The content distribution method of  claim 9 , wherein:
 some of the point of presence devices are of a first type and are configured for streaming video; and 
 others of the point of presence devices are of a second type and are not configured to streaming video. 
 
     
     
       11. The content distribution method of  claim 1 , comprising:
 forwarding the combined signals to processing modules of the headend, wherein the processing modules include one or more information technology extended modules; 
 generating the output signals at the one or more information technology extended modules based on the combined signals; and 
 for each of the combined signals, transmitting the corresponding non-streaming signal or the corresponding streaming signal from the headend to the point of presence devices based on outputs of the one or more information technology extended modules. 
 
     
     
       12. The content distribution method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 determining at a plurality of processing modules when the advertisements are to be played out at the plurality of point of presence devices; 
 determining at the plurality of processing devices or at a plurality of transport devices which advertisements are to be played out at the plurality of point of presence devices; and 
 modifying predetermined fields of the plurality of second messages or generating a plurality of third messages to indicate the advertisements to play out and when the advertisements are to be played out. 
 
     
     
       13. A content distribution system comprising:
 a headend configured to receive a plurality of in-band signals from respective content providers, wherein the plurality of in-band signals include video content; 
 a placement opportunities information module configured to
 receive a plurality of first messages associated respectively with the content providers, wherein the plurality of first messages are advertisement messages or program messages and have a plurality of respective formats, each of the advertisement messages or program messages having a first splice time parameter, and 
 map the plurality of first messages to a plurality of second messages by changing the first splice time parameter to a second splice time parameter, wherein the plurality of second messages have a same format, wherein the same format is different than the plurality of respective formats of the first messages and is standardized for a plurality of point of presence devices, said plurality of first messages and said plurality of second messages each comprising a playout time; and 
 
 a combiner configured to combine the second messages with the video content to generate combined signals at a combiner module of the headend; 
 one or more insertion modules configured to receive the combined signals from the combiner, to determine, at the one or more insertion modules of the headend, when the second messages are to be played out based on the playout time, and generate output signals based on the combined signals; and 
 wherein the headend is configured to, for each of the output signals, transmit a non-streaming signal or a streaming signal to the plurality of point of presence devices. 
 
     
     
       14. The content distribution system of  claim 13 , further comprising a divider configured to separate the plurality of first messages from the video content. 
     
     
       15. The content distribution system of  claim 13 , wherein the plurality of first messages and the plurality of second messages satisfy a society of cable telecommunications engineers (SCTE)-35 message standard. 
     
     
       16. The content distribution system of  claim 13 , wherein the plurality of first messages are received at the headend while the plurality of in-band signals are received at the headend. 
     
     
       17. The content distribution system of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of first messages are received on a same channel at the headend as the plurality of in-band signals. 
     
     
       18. The content distribution system of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the plurality of first messages are received at the headend as out-of-band signals from the content provider; 
 the plurality of in-band signals are received via a satellite; and 
 the out-of-band signals are received at the placement opportunities information module via a terrestrial network. 
 
     
     
       19. The content distribution system of  claim 13 , wherein first ones of the point of presence devices are configured for non-streaming video and second ones of the point of presence devices are configured to stream video. 
     
     
       20. The content distribution system of  claim 19 , wherein:
 some of the point of presence devices are of a first type and are configured for streaming video; and 
 others of the point of presence devices are of a second type and are not configured to stream video. 
 
     
     
       21. The content distribution system of  claim 13 , further comprising a plurality of processing modules, wherein:
 the combiner is configured to forward the combined signals to the plurality of processing modules; 
 the plurality of processing modules include one or more information technology extended modules; 
 the one or more information technology extended modules are configured to generate the output signals based on the combined signals; and 
 the headend is configured to, for each of the combined signals, transmit the corresponding non-streaming signal or the corresponding streaming signal to the point of presence devices based on outputs of the one or more information technology extended modules. 
 
     
     
       22. The content distribution system of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 a plurality of processing modules configured to determine when the advertisements are to be played out at the plurality of point of presence devices; and 
 a plurality of transport devices, wherein the plurality of processing modules or the plurality of transport devices are configured to
 determine which advertisements are to be played out at the plurality of point of presence devices, and 
 modify predetermined fields of the plurality of second messages or generating a plurality of third messages to indicate the advertisements to play out and when the advertisements are to be played out.